but with a banged up offense, the question is can eli manning help win another one for an injured big blue? it's "way too early" for this. good morning. i'm mike barnicle in for willie geist and this is way too early after falling in the shower. glad you're up watching on msnbc or listening live on sirius xm radio. shoot us an e-mail at waytooearly @msnbc.com or tweet us at @williegeist or text the word awake followed by your response to 622639 and we'll read the best responses later in the show. thank you very much. the next 30 minutes will be your cram session for this friday, september 21st and there's a lot

going on today including the withdrawal of the last of the 33,000 surge troops ordered into afghanistan by president obama. plus, bill clinton stops by "the daily show" to make the case for his democratic successor in the white house. we'll show you that clip in just a few minutes. but first let's get to the news live at 5:30 a.m. here at 30 rock in new york city. we begin in massachusetts and the first of four televised debates showcasing one of the country's most closely watched senate races. last night republican incumbent scott brown looked to defend his seat taking on democratic challenger, elizabeth warren in a race that could determine which party controls the senate. new polling released this week shows just how tight this race is. the suffolk university survey has warren leading brown by 4 points, 48% to 44% but the

boston mass poll has scott brown leading, 49-456789 right out of the gate the candidates were asked about their opponent's character and brown questioned warren's native american heritage. >> professor warren claimed she was a native american, a person of color and as you can see she's not. that being said, she checked the box and she had an opportunity actually to make a decision throughout her career. when she applied to penn and harvard she checked the box claiming she was a native american. i don't know whether, in fact, she got ahead as a result of that checking of the box. >> when i was growing up the these are the stories i knew about high heritage. i believed my mother and my father and my aunts and my uncles and i never asked anybody for any documentation. i don't know any kid who did. i did know this about my parents. my mother and dad loved each other very, very much and wanted to get married and my father's family said no because my mother was part delaware and part

cherokee. but, you know, i never used it. never used it for getting into college. never used it for getting into law school and the people who have hired me for my jobs have all made clear that they didn't even know about it until long after i was hired. >> that set the table for jobs and tax cuts. >> i was so surprised when senator brown last fall voted against three jobs bills in a row. jobs bills that would have put 22,000 people -- supported 22,000 jobs here in the commonwealth of massachusetts, a jobs bill that would have prevented the layoffs teachers, firefighters and police officers. >> the three jobs bills that she refers to with all due respect would have raised your taxes $450 billion. i'm not going to raise taxes. i'm going to protect the pocketbooks and wallets of everybody listening. if you want someone who will spend your tax dollars give it to professor warren. she'll spend them. >> he has voted to let taxes go up on hard-working families and

said he will defend the top 2% and top 3% so they don't have to go back to the tax rates of the clinton years and he will hold the other 98% of families hostage. >> hours before the debate there was a question wondering whether senator brown would make it suggesting the senator's voting schedule could cause him to stay in washington. harry reid interrupted floor speeches to suggest senator brown was looking for a way out. >> now i'll second. you could ask in congress. most reputable congress including -- >> would my friend yield? >> certainly. >> majority leader. >> mr. president, madam president, i'm so sorry, we can have no more votes today. no more votes today. it's obvious to me what's going on. i've been to a few of these rodeos and it's obvious there's a big stall taking place so one of the senators who doesn't want to be in the debate tonight won't be in the debate. he can't use the senator's excuse. no more votes today.

>> the senator from minnesota. >> thank you. that is -- that is too bad. >> you've got to be kidding. this senate race is already the most expensive political campaign in massachusetts history. in the race for the white house, we're getting new poll numbers out from three key battleground states. according to the nbc news/"wall street journal"/marist poll he has reached the 50% threshold in all three states. president obama leads governor romney, 50-44. in colorado, it's the same, 50-44 and in iowa it's 50/42. president obama won all three of these states in 2008. the day after mitt romney sat down with the spanish language tv network univision, yesterday it was the president's turn and president obama told

the hispanic audience his biggest failure of his first four years was not passing comprehensive immigration reform. he also attacked his opponent over his secretly videotaped private fund-raiser's comments and the republicans' comments about 47% of americans. >> when you express an attitude that half the country considers itself victims, that somehow they want to be dependent on government. my thinking is maybe you haven't gotten around a lot because i traveled around the country all the time and the american people are the hardest working people there are. >> but it was his comments about changing the tone in washington that also got his opponent's attention. >> obviously the fact that we haven't been able to change the tone in washington is disappointing. i think that i've learned some lessons over the last four years, and the most important lesson i've learned is that you

can't change washington from the inside. you can only change it from the outside. >> governor romney quickly pounced on those words telling a crowd in sarasota, florida, that the president admits he's unable to break through the gridlock and has effectively surrendered. >> he threw in the white flag of surrender again. he said he can't change washington from inside, he can only change it from outside. well, we're going to give him that chance in november. he's going outside. >> the obama campaign accused governor romney of taking the president's words wildly out of context. also evidence that governor romney used similar language when he was running for president in 2008. >> i believe that at this time to change washington, it would be helpful to have somebody who comes with more private sector skill, experience outside washington. i don't think you change washington from the inside. i think you change it from the outside. >> nearly two years after president obama ordered a surge of 33,000 troops in afghanistan,

this morning, the last of those same forces have left the country. that drawdown leaves about 68,000 american troops still in the war zone. the 2009 surge was aimed at pushing back the taliban and buying time to build and train the afghan army. the return of u.s. forces to presurge levels comes at an alarming string of so-called insider attacks with members of the afghan security forces turning their guns on the very people who have been training them. that led the united states military this week to suspend most joint field operations with afghan forces. it's also raised serious new questions about how to stabilize the country before most combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014. and for days now we've heard conflicting versions about what happened that night at the u.s. consulate in libya when four americans were killed including two former navy s.e.a.l.s.

there were initial reports it was a protest gone violent. stemming from a video considered insulting to islam. but now the white house is labeling what happened in benghazi an act of terrorism. secretary of state hillary clinton says the united states government has now opened a new inquiry into the attack, an attack libya insists was preplanned. president obama says it's still unclear whether al qaeda was involved. meanwhile, in benghazi, the late ambassador chris stevens and the three other americans killed were remembered at a memorial servi service. well, it's the moment so many consumers have been waiting for, the iphone 5 finally debuts today. people have been lining up for days all over the world for the latest smartphone from apple. the very first of the new handsets was sold in australia to cheers. iphone 5 presales alone topped 2

million according to the company. let's take an early look at the markets as we get all up in your business this morning. cnbc's karen in new york. >> it's going to be getting to the front of the queue because the queues are long. as you mentioned australia, asia and europe is going to be selling the device in the united states later on today. but many people, in fact, won't get to see the device probably till october as the company plays catch-up with the amount of demand out there in terms of the initial deliveries. you mentioned the number 2 million sold in the first 24 hours and this is one of the reasons why the stock price of apple surged through $700 this week, which raises the question whether you should be buying the actual hardware device or whether you should be buying a stock today and some analysts still fairly bullish and have targets up to $885 on the stock. in terms of the timing for apple really important because it comes up to the holiday period

for producing devices and in terms of this product in particular the highest margin product that accounts for half of apple's revenue, there has been griping about the maps that apple is using on this device. they've exchanged the google maps for their own maps device but some say there are glitches in the system. doesn't help them get to where they want to g that's some of the negatives about the apple device, i'm sure it's not going to make any difference to those buying the device. >> it's not going to make any difference to me. i know where i'm going when i leave the house and i have an iphone 6. >> lucky you. >> thanks, karen. still ahead on "way too early," the new york giants take on the panthers in a dangerous quarterback cam newton, highlights from that game last night in charlotte are straight ahead. plus, more proof that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. that century-old fresco in spain that was hilarious disfigured by a well-meaning parishioner is drawing big money and now the would-be artist wants a cut. that story when "way too early" comes right back.

it depends upon what the meaning of the word "is." if it means it is and never has been that's one thing. but if it means there never is one, that's a completely true statement. let's see if we can get one past the defense.

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you don't need an imap for that. that's downtown chicago. oh, no, okay, all right. dylan, dylan dreyer is here with the weather. is it going to be okay for me? that's all i care about. will the sun be out after i

finish my blueberry muffin. >> i thought it was popcorn. the weather in most areas, a little bit unsettled but the great lakes region seeing a few scattered showers but we're not looking at any severe weather or significant storms except right now in southern missouri and into northern arkansas. that's where we are seeing a line of severe weather breaking out but that will actually fade away as it moves to the south and east through the day. in miami a few scattered showers, isolated pockets of heavier rain. we've been dealing with that in that area for the entire week. just scattered moisture coming in off the ocean there. so we are certainly going to see more of the same today but in the northeast things are looking nice and quiet. lots of sunshine, eventually a little cloudy for right now. that's keeping up temperatures in new york city, we're starting off the day in the 60s. boston is cooler in the it was rig -- 50s. we will see a mix of sun and cloud, temps in the 60s and 70s as this is the last friday of summer 2012. we do start fall tomorrow and it

is eventually going to feel like it. especially up through minnesota saturday. temperatures about 20 degrees below average. highs only in the 50s on saturday in most areas through the western great lakes, of course, with scattered showers too. chicago will see rain on saturday but it should dry out by sunday. >> all right, dylan, thanks very much. half of my favorite sport, ice fishing but as you can tell from the temperatures in the mideast, sports now, giants last night, panthers down in carolina, the giants banged up an offense, a couple of unknowns help them put up a dominant performance. fifth player of the ground, andre brown filling in for ahmad bradshaw breaks a tackle sprints up the sideline, 31 yards. he's been cut by five different teams and there he is scoring last night. same drive, third and three. eli manning drops back, throws it to his big tight end bennett, giants up 7-0 and wouldn't look back if there. no game after that. second quarter giants up 17.

cam newton back to pass third down, dropped by umeniyora. fourth quarter, andre brown from a yard out, helps them put it away, 113 yards rushing. two scores in the game, see you later, cam newton. baseball, the reds became the first to make the 2012 postseason with a 5-3 win over the cubbies yesterday. the reds celebrated without dusty baker, their manager, out after being hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat and the reds' magic number down to two, two games to win the division. and good news for baseball fans in the nation's capital. for the first time since 1933, a baseball team from washington, d.c. will be in the postseason. the nationals beat the dodgers last night, 4-1. they clinch a postseason berth, the first for the franchise since the expos made the playoffs in 1981. this year's performance marks an

unbelievable turnaround for them. they lost 100 games in both 2008 and 2009 and i was there in 1933, the last time they were in the playoffs. yankees took on the blue jays in the bronx last night. oh, fourth inning, yankees down a run, ichiro, already homered earlier in the game, bang, right field wall, double. brought home two runs, yankees up, 3-2. nick swisher in the fourth comes up, watch this. see ya later. >> right field. >> grand slam. yankees went on to win 10-7 and take a one-game lead in the american league east. they start a series with the a's tonight while the orioles travel to fenway to beat the red sox three straight games, friday, saturday and sunday and i actually hope that happens. baltimore is a great story this year. finally an unsettling moment during a soccer match in iran on wednesday. keep an eye on the player in the far left. during a stop in play he picks up an object littering the field and tosses it to the side. boom. it explodes a moment later.

some sources claim it was a grenade. others say it was a firecracker. one british newspaper describes it as a bomb. no one was hurt in the incident but the player who picked up the object is lucky to still have two hands. that match would eventually continue, no one has been held responsible for the incident and that's -- gives a new meaning to fans throwing things on the field. wow. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe" new signs that mitt romney needs to get his campaign into gear particularly in those key swing states. joe and the morning crew will break down the latest poll from those battleground states. we'll have around the water cooler to watch bill clinton pay a visit to jon stewart and "the daily show." what he says he did to prepare for the big speech at the dnc when "way too early" comes back. [ female announcer ] you can make macaroni & cheese without freshly-made pasta.

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♪ well, we told you at the top of the show that incumbent senator scott brown and challenger elizabeth warren are locked in a tight race for the u.s. senate seat in massachusetts. they took the stage for the first of four televised debates last night. if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends that if elizabeth warren were elected she would become the first woman ever to represent massachusetts in the u.s. senate.

massachusetts and rhode island are the only states in new england that have never elected a woman to the u.s. senate or the governorship. but enough with the real news. let's gather around the water cooler to watch former president bill clinton sit down with jon stewart on "the daily show." they discussed his much praised speech at the democratic national convention and the novel idea that a politician these days might actually use factual information to explain issues to voters. >> let me ask you, so, did you give any good speeches lately? how did that feel at the convention? could you tell that you were crushing it as you were doing it? could you -- did you feel that? >> yes and no, but, you know, what i mean by that is i work so hard on that for weeks and weeks and weeks and i was just determined to get the facts right and to simply fight the argument without being

simplistic. i didn't want to talk down to people. >> the idea that you would use -- [ laughter ] >> you would use in your argument -- no, this was interesting. that you thought you would utilize in your argument facts. [ laughter ] and they would have -- you would attach numbers to them that were real. [ laughter ] >> i thought it was a bold choice on your part. >> as we mentioned, both president obama and mitt romney sat down with spanish language network univision this week to answer questions focused on latino voters. stephen colbert suggested romney was perhaps trying to emile to the audience with more than just words. >> here he is monday on the campaign trail and here he is last night on univision. now, clearly he wants it. he wants it. clearly he wants it. apparently he just entered the

spray tan booth and cranked it up to montalban. >> with corinthian leather. the 80-year-old pa richer who volunteered to restore this fresco of christ with a crown of thorns and the shock and horror when she revealed this cartoon-like painting as her finished restoration. well, 000s are flocking to the site where the church is charging a small fee for an up close look at the botched masterpiece. and get this, the artist now says she wants a slice of those profits for boosting tourism in the region. the would-be artist claims copyright on the work and wants the church to pay her royalty fees. she said she'd then donate that money to charity. a spanish newspaper reports the exhibit brought in more than 2,000 euros after only four days of charging admission. a lot to do over there, i guess. still ahead on "way too

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